Head for clawing the valve on an aerosol bomb and for the simultaneous filling thereof with a metered amount of propellant



Nov. 28, 1967 T. RUSCITTI 3,354,916 HEAD FOR CLAWING THE VALVE ON ANAEROSOL BOMB AND FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS FILLING THEREOF WITH A METEREDAMOUNT OF PROPELLANT Filed March 22, 1966 7'0 MMASO INVENTOR.

fine/T17 United States Patent 3,354,916 HEAD FOR CLAWING THE VALVE ON ANAERO- SGL BDMB AND FDR THE SHVIULTANEOUS FILLING THEREOF WITH A METEREDAMOUNT 6F PROPELLANT Tommaso Ruscitti, 11 Via Arnedeo dAosta, Milan,Italy Filed Mar. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 441,559 Claims priority, applicationItaly, Mar. 25, 1964, 45,422 9 Claims. (Cl. 141-20) This inventionrelates to a head designed to be fitted on propellant metering machines,for clawing a valve on an aerosol bomb, and for the simultaneous fillingthereof with a metered amount of propellant.

As already well known, to make an aerosol bomb ready for the use, thesubstance or mixture to be dispersed as a spray or aerosol is to befirstly introduced into the container or bomb, whereafter a valve is tobe fastened thereto by means of a so called: clawing machine, by which aflange of same valve is beaded around the neck of bomb.

Next, the thus valved bomb is brought on a filling and metering machine,by which a metered amount of propellant is filled under the requiredpressure, into same bomb.

The main purpose of this invention consists in the provision of a head,that can be fitted also on already existing machines, and by which bothoperations of heading the valve onto the container neck, and of fillingsame container can be carried out simultaneously thereby saving the timeotherwise required for one of the beading and filling operations, aswell as the idle times as required in the conventional process, fortransferring the container from the one to the other machine.

The filling head according to this invention is also of a simple andrugged design, operates in an absolutely reliable and safe manner, andall the diiferent operations required can be performed automatically byit.

The object of this invention is essentially characterized in that itcomprises a co-axially expanding clawing or beading head, controlled bya bomb positioning collar, that in turn controls an inlet valve for theintroduction of pressure air, by which a wedge is depressed, therebycausing both the expansion of claws, and the depression of a sealingmember fitted on valve stem, and that can perform a relative motion inrespect to said wedge. By said motion, ports are uncovered, therebyallowing a flow of propellant through the valve stem.

The invention will be better understood from a consideration of thefollowing description, taken with the accompanying drawing, being bothdescription and drawing given as a not restrictive example only.

In the drawing, an axial section of a beading and filling head accordingto the invention is shown.

Referring now to same drawing, the beading and filling head consists ofa body indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, and that iscomprisive of two sections 2 and 3, connected with each other by meansof bolts 4.

Two inlets are connected with such head 1, i.e. one inlet 5 for thepropellant designed to be filled into the bomb, such propellant beingdelivered in the direction of arrow G, by a metering device (not shownin the drawing) of the conventional, already known type, and a secondinlet 6 for the compressed air, that is delivered in the direction ofarrow A.

A collar 7 is telescopically connected with the lower end of section 3of head 1. Such collar can be caused to slide into, and out said section3 for an amount as defined by the length of slot 8, that cooperates witha dowel 9, that is screwed on the section 3.

A further collar 10 is adjustably connected, e.g. by

means of screws, with said collar 7. A seat 11, with which said collar10 is formed, is designed to accommodate the upper end of a valve, to besecured onto a bomb, that is positioned beneath the seat 11 (not shownin the drawing).

The position of collar 10 can be adjusted in respect to that of collar'7 by loosening a set nut 12 and a lock screw 13, which are then againtightened after said two components have been adjusted on the requiredmutual position.

The movement of collar 10, and thus also of collar 7, is counteracted bya spring 14. A tierod 15, threaded through a suitable opening of body 3,is connected on one end with the end of collar 7, and on the oppositeend with a pushbutton, that controls a valve 17 which engages a seat 16,the arrangement being such that, when a pressure is exerted on the valve17 by means of tierod 15, against the force of spring 18, the port forthe flow of air, coming from A, in the direction of same arrow A, iskept open.

A piston 20, sealed by a packing 21, is slidingly fitted in a bore 19,whereby it can perform a motion relative to section 2 of body 1.

Said piston 20 is moved against the action of a spring 22. When the samepiston 20 is moved downward, the shaft 23 is also moved therewith, beingthe seal to the outside-and in particular toward the inlet ofpropellant-- ensured by the packings 24, 25 and 26. The hollow shaft 23is formed with an axially directed orifice 27, that communicates withthe inlet of gas G, that leads into a bore 28, wherein a piston 29 isslidingly fitted.

A given play is left between the bore 28 and the piston 29, beingthereby the gas allowed to flow across the narrow intervening spaceexisting between the piston 29 and said bore 28.

Claws 30 are connected with the section 3 in such a manner as to be ableto perform a radially directed swinging motion. The ends of such claws30 are formed with an inclined surface 31 whereby when the wedge 32, andthe shaft 23 fastened thereto, are forced downward, said claws 30 areradially forced outwardly.

Fast with the piston 29 is a coupling head 33, that is on turn slidinglyfitted inside of wedge 32, being said piston 29 kept in the position asshown in the drawing by the action of a spring 34.

A packing 35, fitted on the outer end of head 33, is formed with arecess 36, within which the stem of aerosol bomb to be filled can betightly seated.

The operation of heading and filling head according to the invention isas follows:

The bomb or container to be filled, upon which the related valve ismerely set, but not yet beaded, is positioned beneath the head, invertical alignment with the seat 11. By lowering the head 1, orrespectively by lifting the bomb to be filled, same bomb will be broughtinto contact with the seat 11, whereafter the collar 14 is lifted,against the action of spring 14, until the collar 7 strikes against thecomponent 37 acting as a limit stop. in such a position, the outer endsof claws 36 will be against the flange to be beaded. However, while thelifting of collar 10 (i.e. of collar 7), the tierod 15 is also drawnupwardly, thereby opening the valve 1'7, and thus allowing thecompressed air to flow from the inlet A, into the upper chamber 38,above the piston 20, which therefore will be forced downward, againstthe action of spring 22, until it strikes against the limit stop 39,which position can be adjusted by means of the threaded ring 40, that islocked by the catch 41. Thus, the shaft 23 is also forced downward,whereby the wedge 32 is forced against the inclined surfaces 31 of claws39, which results in same claws being forcibly set apart, therebybeading the valve fiange to bomb neck.

However, together with the shaft 23, also the coupling head 33 islowered, until the end of valve stem strikes against the end portion 42of valve stem seat 36.

After the above-stated position is attained, i.e. after the couplinghead is wholly coupled with the valve stem, the piston 29 and thecoupling head 33 are stopped, while the piston 23 will continue itsstroke, against the action of spring 34. Thus, while the piston 23 ismoved relative to piston 29, the ports 43 with which same piston 29 isformed, and that communicate with the recess 44, leading to recess 36,will be left free from the packing 45, whereby the propellant, comingfrom the metering device, is allowed to flow across the duct 27, thebore 23, the intervening space between the piston 29 and the walls ofbore 28, and the ports 43, into the opening 44, i.e. in the opening 36,or in other words into the stem of filling valve, which is biaseddownward by the action of the catch 42 of said piston 29. Thus, in pointof fact, in addition to beading of valve to bomb neck, also the fillingof bomb with propellant as delivered by the metering unit is attained.

Said metering unit is also provided with a limit stop, that is connectedwith a pneumatic valve (not shown in the drawing) by which the flow ofair from the inlet A is stopped, bringing also same inlet intocommunication with the atmosphere. Thus, the pressure air is releasedfrom the chamber 38, which results in a gradual lifting of piston 20,and also of piston 23, under the action of spring 22,

i.e. the heading head 30 is again closed. When a given limit is exceededby the air pressure in 38, an automatic valve is operated by samepressure, thereby opening a further valve, through which the pressure isreleased. As a consequence thereof, the filled bomb is withdrawn fromthe filling head 1, and the filling operation is thus completed. As itcan be readily appreciated, conditions opposite to those existing in thefilling operation will prevail in the course of return stroke of piston26, and similarly when the bomb or other container is withdrawn from thecollar 10, and thus from the seat 11, the filling head will take againthe position as shown in the drawing; i.e. it will be ready for fillingthe next bomb, when placed beneath it.

Thus, it will be seen that the filling and clawing head of the inventionis capable of operating on containers, such as aerosol containers, forclawing a valve assembly onto such a container and for admittingpropellant into the container simultaneously with the clawing of thevalve assembly onto the latter. This head of the invention includes thecylinder means 1, formed by the interconnected housing components 2 and3, and the piston means 20, 23 which is movable or slidable in thecylinder means for movement therein along a working stroke, this workingstroke being in a downward direction as viewed in the drawing. Thecylinder means and the piston means have a common axis, and the clawmeans 39 is coaxially fixed to the cylinder means for clawing a valveassembly onto a container upon radial spreading of the claw means 30with respect to the common axis of the cylinder means and piston means.The wedge 32 forms a wedge means which is fixed to the piston means formovement therewith and which coacts with the claw means for radiallyspreading the latter during the working stroke of the piston means, andit will be seen that the claw means surrounds the wedge means while thewedge means has a hollow interior. The piston 29 together with thecoupling head 33, the spring 34, the ports 43, the hollow interior 44 ofthe coupling head, and the packing or sealing gland 45 form a fillingmeans which is carried by the piston means and extends into the hollowinterior of the wedge means for engaging and opening a valve of thevalve assembly of the container and for admitting propellant into thecontainer through the open valve thereof in response to movement of thewedge means with the piston means along the working stroke of thelatter. The assembly 7, forms a positioning means for positioning acontainer and the cylinder means one with respect to the other at alocation where the claw means 30 is properly positioned with respect tothe valve assembly to be clawed onto the container by radial spreadingof the claw means. The positioning means 7, 10 and the cylinder means 1form a pair of coaxial means axially movable one relative to the otheralong their common axis during positioning of the container at itsproper location, and the valve 17 forms a valve means which communicateswith the cylinder means for admitting into the latter pressure fiuid fordriving the piston means along its working stroke upon opening of thevalve means 17. The tierod 15 forms an opening means which coacts withthe valve means 17 and which responds to the movement of the said one ofthe pair of coaxial means for automatically opening the valve means 17to admit the pressure fluid to act on the piston means when thecontainer is located by the positioning means at the above-mentionedlocation.

It is to be noted that the cylinder means 1 itself forms the outerhousing for the entire assembly and is capable of being mounted onexisting machines. Furthermore, it will be seen that the positioningmeans 7, 10 is directly carried by the cylinder means for movement withrespect thereto and that the opening means 15 is carried by thepositioning means while the valve means 17 is carried by the cylindermeans. Furthermore, the packing 45 forms a sealing gland whose innercylindrical surface coacts with the ports 43 for closing the latter, andit is when these ports 43 and the inner cylindrical surface of thepacking 45 are axially displaced with respect to each other that theports 43 become uncovered to admit the propellant. This latter featureprovides an exceedingly compact assembly. The compactness of thestructure is further enhanced by the construction of the claw means 30according to which its upper end is directly fixed rigidly to thecylinder means while the claw means includes a plurality of dependingspringy fingers which are radially spreadable with respect to the upperrigidly fixed end of the claw means.

While a certain, preferred embodiment form of the invention has beenherein shown and described, various obvious changes may be made therein,and is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modificationsin the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A filling and clawing head for containers, such as aerosolcontainers, comprising cylinder means, piston means slidable in saidcylinder means for movement along a working stroke, said cylinder meansand piston means having a common axis, claw means coaxially fixed tosaid cylinder means for clawing a valve assembly onto a container uponradial spreading of said claw means with respect to said axis, wedgemeans fixed to said piston means for movement therewith and coactingwith said claw means for radially spreading the latter during theworking stroke of said piston means, said claw means surrounding saidwedge means and said wedge means having a hollow interior, filling meanscarried by said piston means and extending into said hollow interior ofsaid wedge means for engaging and opening a 'valve of the valve assemblyof the container and for admitting propellant into the container throughthe open valve thereof in response to movement of said wedge means withsaid piston means along the working stroke of the latter, positioningmeans for positioning a container and said cylinder means one withrespect to the other at a location where said claw means is properlypositioned with respect to the valve assembly to be clawed onto thecontainer by radial spreading of the claw means, said positioning meansand said cylinder means forming a pair of coaxial means axially movableone relative to the other along their common axis during positioning ofthe container at said location, valve means communicating with saidcylinder means for admitting into the latter pressure fluid for drivingsaid piston means along its working stroke upon opening of said valvemeans, and opening means coacting with said valve means and respondingto movement of said one of said pair of means for automatically openingsaid valve means to admit the pressure fluid to act on said piston meanswhen the container is located by the positioning means at said location.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said cylinder means forms anouter housing for the entire head.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said positioning means ismovably carried by said cylinder means.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said valve means is carried bysaid cylinder means.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said opening means is carriedby said positioning means.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said positioning means ismovably carried by said cylinder means, said valve means is carried bysaid cylinder means, and said opening means is carried by saidpositioning means.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said cylinder means forms anouter housing for the entire head.

8. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said filling means includes anelongated tubular member within said hollow wedge means having a hollowinterior through which the propellant flows into the valve of thecontainer, said tubular member being formed with at least one inletport, and a packing carried by said wedge means and having an innercylindrical surface surrounding and engaging said tubular member andclosing said port thereof prior to movement of said piston means alongsaid working stroke thereof, the movement of said piston means togetherwith said wedge means along the working stroke of said piston meansdisplacing said packing at said inner cylindrical surface thereof beyondsaid inlet port to uncover the latter for admission of propellant intosaid tubular member.

9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said claw means has one endrigidly fixed to said cylinder means and has a plurality of springyfingers projecting beyond said one end to be radially spread by saidwedge means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,013,591 12/1961 Stanley et a1141-3 3,173,457 2/1965 Focht 14l20 3,176,727 4/1965 Rousseau 141203,234,707 2/1966 VJestOn 14l--2O X LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

25 H. S. BELL, Assistant Examiner.

1. A FILLING AND CLAWING HEAD FOR CONTAINERS, SUCH AS AEROSOLCONTAINERS, COMPRISING CYLINDER MEANS, PISTON MEANS SLIDABLE IN SAIDCYLINDER MEANS FOR MOVEMENT ALONG A WORKING STROKE, SAID CYLINDER MEANSAND PISTON MEANS HAVING A COMMON AXIS, CLAW MEANS COAXIALLY FIXED TOSAID CYLINDER MEANS FOR CLAWING A VALVEW ASSEMBLY ONTO A CONTAINER UPONRADIAL SPREADING OF SAID CLAW MEANS WITH RESPECT TO SAID AXIS, WEDGEMENS FIXED TO SAID PISTON MEANS FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH AND COACTING WITHSAID CLAW MEANS FOR RADIALLY SPREADING THE LATTER DURING THE WORKINGSTROKE OF SAID PISTON MEANS, SAID CLAW MEANS SURROUNDING SAID WEDGEMEANS AND SAID WEDGE MEANS HAVING A HOLLOW INTERIOR, FILLING MEANSCARRIED BY SAID PISTON MEANS AND EXTENDING INTO SAID HOLLOW INTERIOR OFSAID WEDGE MEANS FOR ENGAGING AND OPENING A VALVE OF THE VALVE ASSEMBLYOF THE CONTAINER AND FOR ADMITTING PROPELLANT INTO THE CONTAINER THROUGHTHE OPEN VALVE THEREOF IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID WEDGE MEANS WITHSAID PISTON MEANS ALONG THE WORKING STROKE OF THE LATTER, POSITIONINGMEANS FOR POSITIONING A CONTAINER AND SAID CYLINDER MEANS ONE WITHRESPECT TO THE OTHER AT A LOCATION WHERE SAID CLAW MEANS IS PROPERLYPOSITIONED WITH RESPECT TO THE VALVE ASSEMBLY TO BE CLAWED ONTO THECONTAINER BY RADIAL SPREADING OF THE CLAW MEANS, SAID POSITIONING MEANSAND SAID CYLINDER MEANS FORMING A PAIR OF COAXIAL MEANS AXIALLY MOVABLEONE RELATIVE TO THE OTHER ALONG THEIR COMMON AXIS DURING POSITIONING OFTHE CONTAINER AT SAID LOCATION, VALVE MEANS COMMUNICATING WITH SAIDCYLINDER MEANS FOR ADMITTING INTO THE LATTER PRESSURE FLUID FOR DRIVINGSAID PISTON MEANS ALONG ITS WORKING STROK UPON OPENING OF SAID VALVEMEANS, AND OPENING MEANS COACTING WITH SAID VALVE MEANS RESPONDING TOMOVEMENT OF SAID ONE OF SAID PAIR OF MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY OPENINGSAID VALVE MEANS TO ADMIT THE PRESSURE FLUID TO ACT ON SAID PISTON MEANSWHEN THE CONTAINER IS LOCATED BY THE POSITIONING MEANS AT SAID LOCATION.